October 26, 2007

Friday morning and I am back in the saddle again for round two of the Q Ring research project. Had a bit more rest this week from training due to a business trip up to Monterey. Such a fun place and I got to sneak in a run along the boardwalk to the beat of barking seals in the morning mist. I wish I had my camera with me.

This time I was ready to fall into routine and jump on the scale (155lbs) and hop on the warm up bike trainer. Jeff also took some body comp measurements while I chatted about the project with him and his student assistant who was there to help out. They will be presenting the findings of the project later in the year at a convention in Florida. Can I go?

Round 3 - Sprint & 30K TT (again)

Time to pedal. A little warm-up, rev-up, power-up and sssSSSPPPRRRIIiiinnnntttt.... done. That part is not so bad during the sprint but when I stop the wave catches up with my heart and then BAM! My heart and breathing needs a few to catch up.

On to the time trial and it was the standard numbness, 25mph and 90 cadence. Nothing exciting here except for the occasional drool from the mouth piece and about 45min later I was complete. Did I notice the chainring? No, I don't know what was on there ;-) It feels the same and I must admit that I am just feeling better at keeping a steady 90RPM cadence. I continue to ride at an even 200 watts so I guess that I will have to wait for the reports to see if my breathing (O2 levels) or heart rate show signs of efficiency or lack there of with the different rings.

I have been doing some research of my own on the Rotor Q rings and although they have some studies out now I found the user review on various sites are their best marketing. Some people are stating that "I will never ride a normal chainring again". hmmmm.... Here is the skinny from Rotor on the rings

"Q-Rings reduce dead-spot negative effects due to its effective variable gear oval concept. The effective gear is lower at the dead-spot zone, so it is easier, faster and more comfortable (smoother) to pass through it. Once the pedal is over the dead-spot and enters the down stroke, the Q-Rings progressively increase the effective tooth size as more muscle strength is available."